The Beginning

Bignose

With a touch of sadness, I put on a final coat of Carnauba on the body and used up the remainder of my Aerosol can of preservative for the rag top.  I knew the car would have to sit outside in the desert heat until its next lucky owner comes along.  I carefully tucked the original 2003 brochure and the new owner DVD as well as some other goodies into the storage compartment in the trunk.  I then took the best car I have ever had down to the Corvette dealer and traded it in on a new one.   They took off the vanity plate, cleaned it up and handed it back to me. 
 
When the dust settled, the only Corvette I owned was back at the factory.  I had ordered the Corvette Museum delivery option thinking I should do this at least once.   The car is scheduled to go on display at the Museum in Bowling Green Kentucky on 31 July.  At that time it can be seen on one of the webcam links at the URL below.  
http://www.corvettemuseum.com/webcam/index.shtml
 
It is a black coupe, with wheels painted “competition gray”.   Gayle and I are scheduled to start the delivery process at 10:30 am on Monday Aug 4.  We are told that full ceremony takes about 5 hours.  After that the adventure begins, we start out on the drive to get home.  We drive back through Nashville, then on down to Memphis on I40, spending the first night on the road somewhere along the way.  The next day we will drive through Arkansas possibly stopping to visit some friends in Jonesboro along the way.  We join the “Mother Road” (Route 66) at Oklahoma City and continue west planning to stop and visit such sites as the Cadillac Ranch and the Route 66 Museum and Diner as well as whatever other points of interest appear along the way.   We have no hotel reservations so we will probably make it up as we go along expecting to take 5 or 6 days.  The route continues on through Amarillo, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff.  A total of about 1/3 of the route.   We leave Route 66 at Flagstaff, drive south through Sedona and join I10 going west at Phoenix.  From there it’s an easy 4 hour drive home. 
 
The new car is a black coupe with dual mode exhaust, the Z51 performance package, 6 speed paddle shift transmission, Onstar, XM Radio and a built in Navigation system, Horsepower is 436.  It should be ideal for the cruise.  I’m having a nose bra shipped to the museum to help protect it on the drive home.   But will probably have the clear plastic installed on the nose after the paint cures. 
 
I know what you’re thinking.  People have been asking me that question.  I’ve considered it myself too.  Is Gayle really going ride with me in the car for 2000 miles with both of us arriving home intact?  Do I feel lucky?  Sometimes she can’t even stand to ride to the grocery store.  Well to tell you the truth, I’m not quite sure myself.  She did insist on getting the automatic transmission so that she could drive the car if “something happened” to me (her only input on the options).  But come to think of it; did I really order the 6 speed paddle shift, or just the 6 speed?  Must be a “senior moment”.  The deal was all done by cell phone while I was stuck in the Dallas airport between canceled flights. 
 
The plate of course will still be MJU-47.  We don’t have a newer nomenclatured rocket flare. 
 
Best regards and I’ll send pictures to those who are interested.